Dubai: Batelco win Kartdrome 24 Hours and wrap up 2012 Endurance Championship title for third year

8 December 2012 – Race Report: Ahead of the Dubai Kartdrome 24 Hours, the final round of the 2012 Endurance Championship driven by Mini, the predictions were that this edition would be one of the tightest fought contests in the events history, but no one told Batelco about the ‘script’ as they put up one of the most dominant displays in memory to win the race by a 3 laps margin and also wrap up the 2012 Endurance Championship title.

From the start it appeared that there were several teams able to match the pace of the Bahraini team, and briefly Batelco relinquished the lead, but during the night and early morning they consolidated their lead with each of their drivers delivering consistently fast stints which ultimately was the main factor in them taking top honours.

Batelco, with Dubai based teenager Edward Jones doing the final stint, crossed the line at 14:00 pm on Saturday with 1168 laps on the lap chart after 24 hours, which included 24 pit stops during the course of the race. They also set the best lap time of 1 minute 10.551 seconds in the process.

Batelco team manager Ali Abbas summed up the season finale for his team, “A wonderful achievement for us after a challenging year. It was a tough race, we are really very happy not only to win this race but also to win the 2012 Endurance Championship here at the Kartdrome. As usual when I needed the team to deliver, the drivers all raised their game and delivered.”

“The key time for us was during the night, we were very fast and we set the fastest lap of the race during this period. For us the night time is where our drivers show their strength and as a result we are here celebrating a double victory: race and championship.”

Batelco scored three out of four wins this year in the Endurance championship on route to their third consecutive title, and have been unbeaten in the past five 24 hours races at the Kartdrome.

Dubai Falcon Racing Team chased the winners throughout the night and day, all 24 hours long even leading at some stages, and were also Batelco’s arch rivals throughout the four rounds of the championship. On the day they were best of the rest, with their all Emirati driver line-up giving a good account of themselves, to take the runner-up spot in the race and in the championship for the second year in succession.

Team manager Mike Wilkes said, “We are content with this result, considering that Batelco have a bigger pool of drivers to pick from and we are focused on developing Emirati drivers, this is a good result for our team. We gave it our best shot and really ended the race satisfied that we achieved what we could with the resources. I am proud of the lads they all did a good job.”

Third in the race and also in the 2012 Endurance Championship were Timeless Events Racing who were the revelation of the season running the top two teams close all season long.

TrackTalk Mediaboltz powered to fourth place, the team’s best result since its inception in 2005.

Fifth overall were CG Racing 2 who did enough to not only to take victory in the Corporate Class but also to wrap the 2012 Endurance Championship Corporate title, ahead of their sister team CG Racing 1 who were ninth overall on the day.

Team principal Pierre Choueiri, Chairman and CEO of Choueiri Group, said of the achievement, “We set a target last year to finish 1-2 in the championship and I can happily say it is mission accomplished because we hit the target. I feel proud, really magnificent, our guys did a brilliant job. This is proof that hard work, consistency, a target and the desire to win is always rewarded. Our team, CG Racing, is like a family, so I am proud of my family.”

“Congratulations to Batelco they did a magnificent job, they were consistent and race a t a very high level all the time,” added Choueiri.

Third in the Corporate Ranking went to MBC Racing.

Other prizes on the day went to:

• Special award for best spirit: Dubai Airport Pistons

• Best newcomers: Team Swiss Pro

• Nations Cup: Forza RS Russia

Dubai Autodrome General Executive Hamish Brown commented after the race, “The 2012 season final of the Endurance Championship driven by Mini was a great event. We listened to the competitors and tweaked the rules accordingly and I must say that the response was terrific.”

“I would like to use the opportunity to thank all the marshals, officials and Dubai Kartdrome staff who made the race possible and thank all the competitors who took part. And finally a big congratulations to Batelco and CG Racing for winning the final race of the season and at the same time being crowned champions.”